CtiAP. n. JOURNEY TO MORZOUK. 73 
excellence, they are sold at a very high price at Tripoh. The ad- 
joining country is entirely destitute of shrubs, or any kind of food 
for camels, which are therefore sent to graze about five miles off ; 
while in the town all animals are fed on dates. Sheep are brought 
here from Benioleed, and are, in consequence of coming from such a 
distance, very dear. In the gardens, which are about three miles 
from the town, barley, maize, and gussob, are cultivated, as 
well as a few onions, turnips, and peppers. The quantity of flies 
here is immense, and all the people carry little flappers, made of 
bunches of wild bulls' hair, tied to a short stick, in order to keep 
these pests at a distance. The dates all being deposited in store- 
houses in the town, may account, in some degree, for the multitude 
of these insects ; which, in a few minutes, fill every dish or bowl 
containing any liquid. The duties paid by this place amount to 
2000 dollars annually, exclusive of a tax of one dollar on each two 
hundred date trees. All the people attached to the Sultan, and 
ourselves also, received food twice a day from the Sheikh, who col- 
lected it from the inhabitants ; our horses likewise got a daily por- 
tion of dates. 
The costume here is the same as that of the Bedouins, con- 
sisting generally of a shirt and barracan, a red cap, and sandals : a 
few, whose circumstances allow of it, dress in the costume of 
Tripoli. The neat appearance of the men, in general, is very 
striking, compared with that of the Arabs about the coast. The 
women are considered exceedingly handsome ; indeed, one or two 
whom I saw at Fatma's were really so, and as fair as Europeans ; but 
they are noted for their profligacy and love of intrigue. 
When the kingdom of Fezzan was governed by a native Prince, 
this town and the two neighbouring ones were, in a manner, inde- 
pendent ; the distance from their own capital, as well as from Tri- 
poh, securing them from surprise. All discontented or disaffected 
